Plan your legacy now

Gifts from one's will or revocable trusts constitute a majority of planned gifts. You can make a charitable bequest by providing a dollar amount, specific property, a percentage of your estate, or what is left (remainder) after other designations. In many cases, the charitable provision may be made by a simple codicil to the will, which will not require rewriting the entire estate plan.

Here is some suggested language you can have your attorney review:

I give, devise, and bequeath to Our Saviour's Community Services (tax I.D. 20-0810105), located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the sum of (insert dollar amount or percentage of your estate) for the benefit of its general purposes.

Retirement account funds (IRAs or company plans) may be transferred to a charity at death by proper beneficiary designation. Our Saviour's Community Services will receive 100% of the funds at no tax cost. These gifts are simple to complete, requiring only a change of beneficiary form.

Life insurance is another way to make a substantial future gift. The charity is named as the owner and beneficiary to receive the proceeds of an existing life or new insurance policy. The donor receives a tax deduction for approximately the cash surrender value.

An alternative is for the donor to simply add Our Saviour's Community Services as a beneficiary to a policy. The donor retains the incidents of ownership over the policy, including the right to change the beneficiaries. However, the donor receives no income tax deduction.